Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood spoke to law enforcement and firefighters that serve and protect Ridgecrest and the Indian Wells Valley at the annual Respect for Law Enforcement Dinner Friday. Youngblood was the keynote speaker for the annual event that has fellow officers blowing off some steam with friends and colleagues and honoring those who have excelled in their posts at the Ridgecrest Police Department, China Lake PD, the California Highway Patrol, Kern County Sheriff and the Kern County Fire Department’s Arson Division.

The Sheriff spoke about the challenges facing law enforcement, especially how the media is turning citizens against law enforcement to advance their liberal agendas.

Youngblood talked about his background, being a Bakersfield native, graduating from Bakersfield High School and attending Bakersfield City College before joining the Army in 1968 and serving in Vietnam for 14 months. He joined the Sheriff’s Department in 1972, quickly rising through the ranks and earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in administration of justice and a master’s in public administration. He was elected Sheriff in 2006.

The Sheriff opened his talk by saying he knew it has been an unprecedented couple years for law enforcement due to prison realignment and AB 109. The two programs are Gov. Jerry Brown’s answer to a three-judge panel’s mandate that the state reduce its prison population, which was as high as 200 percent of capacity. Realignment shifts responsibility of parolees of non-violent crimes from the state to the county.

Youngblood said this has created very violent prisons, as now the only inmates who are being held are those felons convicted of violent crimes, such as rape and murder.

This has created a revolving door for many criminals who may get arrested for a non-violent offense only to be let out of county jails the day after they’re arrested. Presently, a criminal is arrested and placed in county jail based on the latest offense. So a person caught stealing a candy bar, for example, would go to county jail on the non-violent offense, and according to Youngblood be set free in a matter of days or sooner due to overcrowding. What is not taken into account is the offender’s prior record.

“We have to kick people out every day,” because of overcrowding, Youngblood said. He added the Kern County jails were full well before AB 109 and realignment.

A lack of funding is at the heart of the over-crowding problem, according to Youngblood, and the media is not helping with this plight.

But, he said he didn’t want to “beat realignment into the ground.” Youngblood turned his attention to the modern world we live in, where cops are not respected and that whenever the chance presents itself, the media stabs law enforcement in the back, perpetuating that lack of respect.

Page 2 of 3 - He said to the crowd at the Elks Lodge in Ridgecrest that the event was aptly named. “There is little respect for law enforcement outside of this room,” he said.

He described how there is little reverence or regard for law enforcement, and the criticism comes from the same people these dedicated men and women have sworn to protect.

“The world is changing dramatically,” he said.

Youngblood described how when he came back from Vietnam, he was so despised for what he had done, “All I was doing was what I’d been told to do.”

The world then embraced law enforcement and hated the military. He said now things have flip-flopped, “And it’s time for a change.”

He said he loved Ridgecrest because of the respect shown by young people for their elders and law enforcement. In Bakersfield, kids have no respect for the boys in blue, he said, and no one steps out of the way when cops are trying to get to a scene.

He blamed media and newspapers for perpetuating those negative attitudes. He said anytime there’s an officer-involved shooting or a detainee who dies in jail or a holding cell, the media jumps on the situation, digging deep into potential police brutality and justifications.

“The news media thrives on this stuff,” he said to a supportive audience who would answer Youngblood’s calls with hoots and “Yes!”

“They’re (the media) willing to find these idiots who will come forward and say anything for their 15 minutes of fame,” he said, adding that these people who may not know much of the details of a case are willing to testify how bad the cops are treating the people. He said these people who criticize law enforcement are the same people law enforcement have dedicated their lives to protect. The crowd burst into applause after this statement.

The news media, such as the Los Angeles Times, are “using their liberal agenda to turn citizens against us,” he said.

He used the example of how the Times tried to justify the actions of state Sen. Leland Yee accused in a of conspiracy arms trafficking and wire fraud. There may also be many police officers and administrators involved in the illegal actions. He said the Times approached the story with corruption as a given when it comes to cops and politicians and that these types of crimes will continue as the a way of life.

He said he was appalled at this accusation and generalization of corruption among law enforcement.

He ended his presentation by saying law enforcement is the barrier between lawlessness and a community.